Do Thai Ladies Change Their Surname After The Wedded Day?

[bkkjames]

I dont know enough about what happens when thai woman is married to foreigner, whether she can still buy land. my previous understanding is that once she does, she somehow loses her thai rights.

As a moderator on this forum I'd thought you would know better. We have 3 Chanoots in TW's married name (my Farang surname) going back near on 9 years.

Not sure if being a property expert is among the pre-reqs - why would it? Very silly to say IMO.

[tijnebijn]

Wife changed her name and all documentation relating to her old familt name. No problem.

I also felt better her having my surname (dont know why) now I need to arrange for the adoption of her daughter so she can have my surname, she already calls herself by it at school. Mum why cant have the same name as daddy and baby Jake, bless.

I want to do the same for our eldest , how to adopt I want to ask for a long time , he's father past away long time ago ,

but heared could be complicated to do , so thought wait till he's 20 in 3 years time ( can change it himself ), but how hard is it can we change it at the local ampuh ...?

[EvilDrSomkid]

No one ever considered changing their own surname to their wife's last name?

I don't think you can. It would be highly irregular and I am not sure Thai officials would allow it.

In anycase, my wife changed her last name to mine. Got het Tabien Baan changed the same day. The MOST important document.

Later, bank account name, business registration papers etc. No nightmare, just takes a little time.

She is proud to be Mrs. Somkid. Besides, when her name is called anywhere, it is, as usual, by given name, not family name.

[worldfun]

my wife lost her sur name & adopted (1 of) mine.

it was her/our decision, but we also considered keeping as is or even for me to adopt hers, but neither of those we could agree too in the end.

if I'm not mistaken the marriage papers (when marrying at thai amphur) gives all 3 options (keeping existing, adopting male/female).

sure I was thinking of keeping it simple with no changes, but in reality the thai paperwork is limited (while at amphur update her ID, subsequently update passport at foreign office (1 sticker added to existing passport).

cheers!

[MiG16]

I dont know enough about what happens when thai woman is married to foreigner, whether she can still buy land. my previous understanding is that once she does, she somehow loses her thai rights.

As a moderator on this forum I'd thought you would know better. We have 3 Chanoots in TW's married name (my Farang surname) going back near on 9 years.

Not sure if being a property expert is among the pre-reqs - why would it? Very silly to say IMO.

LOL is that James coming to my defense? that'll be a first

but yes, moderators are not necessarily experts on any subjects. in some cases like the visa and computer subforum I suppose the MODs in those areas have either an expertise and/or an interest. as for me, being a General MOD either means Im expected to generally know everything? ...considering the varied topics that come up on this forum, if I did, Id be really rich acting as expert advisor on matters ranging from 'life, the universe, and everything'

but in reality, Im just a generally clueless person

(who sometime is guilty of taking the discussion off topic - sorry)

[brianb1944]

Same as anywhere else up to the couple (or the wife). Mine hyphenated herself and became double barreled, I thought about it but I had mine a long time and am used to it.

[bdenner]

I dont know enough about what happens when thai woman is married to foreigner, whether she can still buy land. my previous understanding is that once she does, she somehow loses her thai rights.

As a moderator on this forum I'd thought you would know better. We have 3 Chanoots in TW's married name (my Farang surname) going back near on 9 years.

Not sure if being a property expert is among the pre-reqs - why would it? Very silly to say IMO.

No it's not VERY silly! The guy has a "trusted" position on this site and should not present misinformation to the punters. If he is uncertain isn't it better to say nothing?

[richard_smith237]

TGF from a family respectfully known in certain circles. I will give her my surname. Her family expects nothing else.

It’s the way it is here, it’s the way it is at home. This is one part of the culture that overlaps.

[Tinkelbell]

Well, I'm one of the Thai wives that still maintain her family name after married the foreigner more than 30+ yr ago.

After graduated from Thammasart I went straight to work for Police Department Headquarter (at that time the my office was at Patumwan right across from The Erawan Hotel).

Then I took a sabbatical leave, going for my further study in the US. Few years later end up marrying my college sweetheart.

When we went to register for our marriaged license, I chose to keep my family name ( of course with the blessing from hubby ) for this ultimate reasons that I could legally hold any of the property in which some day I would inherit from my own Thai family. Beside, my Thai family name is known more to Thais than hubby's surname.

In Thailand, friends or relatives always joke that I'm still 'Miss ' (nang saow), not 'Mrs' Because I still go with the same name since I started my very first day in kindergarten

I'd like to add we never encounter any problem dues to my using a different last name from hubby. My daughter is the same, she maintains hers when she married three years ago.

[sanook2me]

TGF from a family respectfully known in certain circles. I will give her my surname. Her family expects nothing else.

It’s the way it is here, it’s the way it is at home. This is one part of the culture that overlaps.

Nasty man changing your misses auspicious name to your boring ubiquitous Western surname..

I may take my misses name and lose my Western name ..it would quite cool to be known as Mr R UdomPorn..

[bkkjames]

I dont know enough about what happens when thai woman is married to foreigner, whether she can still buy land. my previous understanding is that once she does, she somehow loses her thai rights.

As a moderator on this forum I'd thought you would know better. We have 3 Chanoots in TW's married name (my Farang surname) going back near on 9 years.

Not sure if being a property expert is among the pre-reqs - why would it? Very silly to say IMO.

No it's not VERY silly! The guy has a "trusted" position on this site and should not present misinformation to the punters. If he is uncertain isn't it better to say nothing?

Misinformation - Migsy stated her previous understanding (whether right or wrong). BTW If you want to talk about mis-informed, Migsy is not a he.

Trusted position - they moderate the forum and from time to time offer opinion on topics . And if you want to go one step further she moderates in the 'General' forum. Hardly specific in nature - tough to be an expert despite 3am posts by some members.

Even Jstar who moderates the football forum would be the first to admit he is no 'football expert' (at least his standing in the competition would suggest this )

Or are you looking for the truth and nothing but the truth on TV?

But if nothing else, I now know who to turn to when I need 'expert opinion' on the subject.

Thanks.

[robblok]

I'm thinking about getting married to a Thai lady and wondered

Can I change my name to the new wife's surname? (it's a much more interesting name than mine)

In the UK you are allowed to change surnames either way or add both together.

I think ฟีลีปจนบำรุงนอก has a rather nice look to it!

PS

I can't believe it's been 20 posts and no other man though of taking on the Thai woman's name.

Why would we when we can write our surnames in Thai if we want to already?

Somehow i think Smith or Blok in thai would still be considered a foreign name and would not fool anyone.

[ricklee]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

[bkkjames]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

hurry and do if before he is born - unless you like extra paperwork and loss of time. Good luck with the lil one!

[Arkady]

I dont know enough about what happens when thai woman is married to foreigner, whether she can still buy land. my previous understanding is that once she does, she somehow loses her thai rights.

...I believe that this law was repealed some years ago.

cool if that has happened. I must look into it thanks for the heads up. I can be slow with things at times......

(and hence, Thaihome, my comment started with "I dont know enough......" not claiming that my understanding from many years ago is the correct info)

There are many threads about this on TV but a ministerial regulation in 1999 replaced previous ministerial regulations that prohibited Thai women married or cohabiting with foreigners from buying land, although they were allowed to keep land they owned prior to marrying or shacking up with a foreigner. The 1999 regulation obliges both male and female Thais married or cohabiting with foreigners to sign an affidavit with their partners that the land is purchased with the Thai partner's sole funds and will not form part of the conjugal property (that may divided in the event of divorce). If this affidavit is not signed, the Thai partner is regarded as a nominee on behalf of the foreign partner and both can face criminal charges under the Land Code.

Under the current land ownership regulations there is no advantage for a Thai women married to a foreigner to retain her maiden name. This might enable the couple to avoid signing the affidavit and make it easier for the foreign man to clain half the property in the divorce court but it also exposes both parties to criminal prosecution.

In future who can tell? The Agricultural Ministry is drafting a bill to impose restrictions on Thais married to foreigners buying agricultural land. If this ever sees the light of day, it will have to be implemented by the Land Dept and will have implications for the rights of Thais married to foreigners who wish to buy any kind of land. They may introduce checks to ensure that the Thai spouse is not buying land with a gift from her foreign spouse but that is going to be tricky to legislate, since gifts are recognized in the Commercial and Civil Code and all assets acquired after marriage are regarded as communal anyway. They are also likely to have trouble with the now more vocal womens' lobby, as this type of legislation clearly aims to discriminate against Thai women. Finally there would be problems with the small number of influential hi-so men who come back from their masters degree studies abroad with a trophy foreign bride in tow, as they would be forced to include Thai men with foreign wives in the net, as in the 1999 ministerial regulation.

However the land ownership legislation is changed in the future, trying to get around it by not changing a Thai maiden name or not registering a marriage is not likely to help much, as the land regulations have always been drafted to make sure they capture Thai women who marry foreigners abroad but don't register the marriages in Thailand or change their surnames.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Arkady

[stbkk]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

hurry and do if before he is born - unless you like extra paperwork and loss of time. Good luck with the lil one!

My wife kept her original name, but changed her Id card to 'Mrs'. At the time, even though the law had been changed to allow Thai ladies married to foreigners to own land, some land offices were reputed to make it 'difficult' to register the land.

Our son was born before we were married, and has my surname.

My stepson has his natural fathers surname, not my wifes.

None of the above has caused us any problems, so far at least.

However, we do live in Thailand still. May have to tidy it up a bit should we ever have to return to the UK!

[Haydn]

My wife kept her surnames as she had the staff in the amphur laughing their heads off at her attempts to pronounce my surname. They then advised her that the law in Thailand had changed and she could legally keep her old family name -- We have never had any problems although we did have a quiry once at immigration as to why she had done so.

[thaihome]

...

However the land ownership legislation is changed in the future, trying to get around it by not changing a Thai maiden name or not registering a marriage is not likely to help much, as the land regulations have always been drafted to make sure they capture Thai women who marry foreigners abroad but don't register the marriages in Thailand or change their surnames.

Very good post. Would also add that even prior to 1999, not changing the surname did not guarantee the woman could around the regulation. After all, the regulation was married to a foreigner, not having a foreign surname. It seems to me that it would be likely the people in the local land office would know she was married to foreigner anyway, particularly if she was from a locally well known family. Even if she did succeed in registering the land, purchased or inherited, by doing so she was in fact committing fraud, not any different then the people today who do not change their names and do not have the foreign husband sign the affidavit.

TH

[ricklee]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

hurry and do if before he is born - unless you like extra paperwork and loss of time. Good luck with the lil one!

Thanks for the tip and your good wishes. We'll get her name changed tomorrow. Unless the baby interrupts us, of course.

[bkkjames]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

hurry and do if before he is born - unless you like extra paperwork and loss of time. Good luck with the lil one!

Thanks for the tip and your good wishes. We'll get her name changed tomorrow. Unless the baby interrupts us, of course.

Just tell your wife to hold off delivery mate - he's late now anyways

[MiG16]

Arkady - thanks for that very informative post!

someone commented about MODs should not post if we dont know the answer.

the job of moderators is not to be an expert opinion provider on the forum. answers and opinions and ideas come from every member. in most ways MODs are similar to other members. with extended role to 'moderate' the discussions. this means we keep the discussions within the forum rules.

most of us are not experts. some may be experts in certain fields in their real lives, but thats the same as any other member. the point is - MODs are not made MODs based on their expertise in a certain field. Well at least I can speak about me. Im definitely not an expert at anything. but that does not mean I can not express my view, or raise questions about something I dont know does it.....

[ricklee]

My wife did immediately, would be strange if the mother had a different surname than our children. She practised it weeks before we married and discussed what the best way would be to write my name in thai-scripts.

Mine hasn't - we've been married for a year and the subject never really came up. This is interesting though as we are going to have a baby, like, yesterday. (He's late, but being half Thai and half Irish it shouldn't come as a surprise ) I just asked her and she said she wants to change her name now.

hurry and do if before he is born - unless you like extra paperwork and loss of time. Good luck with the lil one!

My wife's mother told her that if she changes her name she gives up her right to free health care and some other things. I'm not sure about this as my mother-in-law doesn't know her arse from a tree most of the time. Any of you guys know anything about this?

[maahuanao]

I can't see why they would unless they were to move to the West. Can't bring them any advantage here.

Could be a disadvantage - when buying things a farang name could mean paying more!

[Cuban]

As a moderator on this forum I'd thought you would know better. We have 3 Chanoots in TW's married name (my Farang surname) going back near on 9 years.

I'm sure moderators are people too. Laws change and the application of laws vary as well across the country, that is why such forums as these are of use - share the knowledge.

The Thai wife of friend of mine encountered 'problems' last year when claiming for flood damages - there was a 500/1,000 (?) Baht payment due from the local government for crop damage after a particular incident.

When she submitted her claim supported by the chanote and Thai ID card - it was questioned if she was Thai and able to claim money because she has a non-Thai family name, the family name is in fact Asian although her husband is from America.

The problem was resolved to her benefit after some debate.

[worldfun]

it seems very clear what is the general consensus here:

1) NO changing a Thais name into whatever (sur) name doesn't change their legal (Thai) rights one bit just as it doesn't change them from being 'Thais' to 50% 'farangs' or even 'mixed race' LOL!

2) YES chances are *some* are more likely to have more difficulties dealing withg *some* part of the 'thai system' say land office, healt care, jobs, police basically dealing with corrupted/ignorant officials etc. However knowing their rights & insisting on them the worst that can happen after a name change is a bit more hassle here & there

[flying]

Did not read all 3 pages but......

Mine did & her maiden surname is now her middle name.

She did not have a middle name & she needed one for her US SS card. So it worked out nicely